A Dragon's Dimples
by glindalovesshoes
Summary: When Roland accidentally endangers his little sister while trying to soothe her back to sleep, Regina panics. Without wanting to, she adresses a burden her little knight has been carrying around for a while now and once he disburdens his heart to her, their family grows closer than they ever were before. DimplesPeanut/DimplesQueen Hood-Mills-Family
A/N: Hey everyone! This was supposed to be up for Cherish the Peanut Week but since I was on vacation I couldn't post it… So have some PeanutDimples and DimplesQueen fluff! Thanks to my amazing beta waterbaby for checking this! I really hope you'll like it and would love to know what you think.

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The first thing he noticed when he peeked into the bassinet the baby was lying in was that she was tiny. Tiny like a peanut, papa had said. Her cheeks were still red from when she'd been crying. That was all she did - cry, eat, sleep. His papa said it was what all babies did when they were so small and that soon he could play with her, but not now. Now she needed to sleep. Actually, he wasn't even supposed to be in here but he was… curious. Curious what all the fuss was about and why the peanut baby was suddenly such a big deal to everyone. She'd suddenly been there. He suddenly had a sister who took up all his papa's and Regina's attention. It was a lot to take in for a little boy like him and up until now he wasn't even sure he liked having a sister, because she didn't do anything. She couldn't play with him, he couldn't make her laugh - the only thing she did was grab his index finger when he held it out to her and didn't let go.

He stared down at her from the chair he'd pushed next to the bassinet. For some reason she didn't look happy, her tiny mouth pulled in a small frown and her hands balled into angry fists. She was dressed in a white onesie with little multicolored elephants on it and wrapped in a hand knitted soft pink blanket with white embroidery. It'd been a gift from Granny, he remembered. Above the bassinet was a mobile made of glass unicorns, which were sparkling in the dimming afternoon light. The baby had gotten many gifts yesterday and the days before and it wasn't even Christmas or her birthday. Everyone who came to visit brought a gift for her. She didn't get many toys though, apart from a few stuffed animals like his monkey. They were sitting on the changing table, all carefully put together like one big toy family. Roland found it weird since she couldn't even play with them and let's be honest, he'd rather have more toys than all the clothes and baby stuff as a gift if he were the peanut baby.

Roland looked back down at the sleeping baby, surprised to find her staring questioningly at him with wide blue eyes. Oops. He put a finger in front of his mouth to signal her to be quiet. "Shhh… Please don't tell them I was here. I'm not allowed in here, papa said. They will think I woke you up again and be grumpy. They're always grumpy because you don't sleep much."

The little baby girl opened her mouth gasping, letting out a small yawn. "That's good," Roland smiled. "I always yawn when I am tired and you've been up the whole night. I know Regina said babies don't have bed times yet. You're really lucky - I wish I could stay up the whole night but then I would be very tired and couldn't play. So if you go back to sleep you can play with me when you wake up." She didn't though. She kept staring at him for a little longer, wriggling one hand in the air as if she was waving at him. Roland let out a small giggle and waved back.

"Hi Peanut!"

They continued the game a few more times before she yawned once again and his eyes wandered back over to the changing table with all the toy animals. Perhaps she needed a cuddling toy to fall asleep better? He couldn't sleep without his monkey, so perhaps if he got her one of the toys, she would fall back asleep, too.

Quickly, he climbed down the chair and pushed it to the high changing table. Even though his papa always told him he was a big boy, he couldn't quite reach the animals without the chair. There were many stuffed toys on the table. There was a big fluffy black dragon with red wings. It was a gift from the Dragon Lady and her daughter. A really cool gift. He was a little knight and the toy dragon would be cool to play with. He could pretend to slay it and fight it and… His eyes lit up. Perhaps he could play with it for a while until his baby sister was big enough to play with it? He could pretend she was a princess in the tower (the bassinet) and he would save her from the mean dragon. Yes. Yes, that would be awesome!

His gaze wandered across the animals, stopping at the pink hippo with a blue tummy. It was pink and looked all girly. He wouldn't ever want to play with that one, and it was all girly so surely his baby sister would like it.

Roland took both, the dragon and the pink hippo and carried them over to the bassinet. "Look Peanut, I found this one here. It's all pink and girly like the dresses Snow got you but Regina won't let you wear." He put it next to the baby into the bassinet, surprised how tall the toy looked in comparison to her.

"We have to give it a name though, you know? My monkey's name is Mr. McMonkey-McBean. We could, hmmm…" he was thinking quite hard before he started to grin. "We could name it Gloria! Like the hippo from Madagascar!" He laughed, but apparently the baby seemed to grow uncomfortable.

"We… we don't have to name it Gloria, you know. I… we can name it something else if you want to. Just Hippo. Or… or would you like the dragon? I wanted to borrow it to play with but… Please don't cry, Peanut." But it was too late. The baby's hands balled back into small fists and an awful sounding cry escaped her mouth. Within seconds her face became red and her crying increased, no matter how Roland tried to soothe her with his talking or by putting the dragon into the bassinet also.

The door bust open and Regina entered the room, a tired and exhausted expression on her face. She was surprised to find Roland standing on the chair next to the bassinet. "Roland! What are you doing here? We told you to let her sleep. Now look at her, you woke her up!"

"I… I didn't, I'm sorry, Gina," he mumbled defeated, before he climbed down the chair. Regina rushed to the bassinet, her eyes wide with fear when she saw the two big stuffed animals in there with the baby.

"Did you put them in there, Roland?" she asked horrified, half yelling. He nodded, his eyes filling with tears. For some reason he had the feeling he did something very, very wrong.

"Roland, you must never ever do this again! This is dangerous!" He winced when she grabbed the two stuffed toys and threw them carelessly on the floor before picking Peanut up. "Shhh, it's okay, honey. Mama is here. It's all right." Roland stared at Regina and the baby before he wiped the big crocodile tears away with the sleeve of his shirt and took off.

Xxxxx

"Robin have you seen Roland?" Regina asked concerned after she entered the living-room with a finally sleeping baby in her arms. Robin startled up from the couch, blinking the tiredness away.

"I… uh… no. Sorry, love, I was so tired I think I fell asleep with my eyes open for a moment. Why? What happened?"

Regina bounced the baby in her arms and gently kissed her forehead. "I found him in the nursery. He put two stuffed toys into the bassinet."

"He what?!" Robin asked horrified, "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, I just got there in time. But Robin, I… I yelled at him. He's five, he couldn't understand this possibly. All the week he's been going on about how he can't wait to play with her and… We should have explained it to him." Tiredly Robin rubbed through his face, getting up to take his three week old daughter from Regina. For a moment it seemed like she was about to wake up again but he started humming which got her to calm down immediately.

"I'll go look for him."

"Don't worry, Regina…"

"No, Robin. I never yelled at him before and he didn't have the time to really adjust. None of us had. We told him he'd be a big brother soon and all of a sudden she is there, we go on a trip to Hell and he's all alone. Let's be honest, since we came back a week ago, we have been neglecting him. We haven't slept a lot, we haven't done anything with Roland… I feel so bad, Robin."

Robin looked hurt, realizing how his wonderful tiny little daughter had taken up all their time and his son had come up short. "We should both go look for him… But I think I know where he is."

They wrapped a fluffy blanket around the baby and headed for the garden. The willow tree with its low branches was located in the far back of the garden. Perfectly hidden behind the leaves from which some were hanging down to the grounds was Roland's secret castle. A tiny four step ladder reached up to the lowest branch so Roland could easily climb up and from there, climb on higher to the crown. Regina had argued it was too dangerous to let him climb the tree but Robin had argued that the boy grew up in the Enchanted Forest and done more climbing than walking, so they'd agreed he was allowed to go up to a certain branch about two meters away from the ground and not higher.

Now Roland was sitting on the exact branch, legs dangling down from both sides, his arms hugging Mr. McMonkey-McBean fiercely while big crocodile tears floated down into the soft fur. He tilted his head away from his father and Regina when he heard them approach with a soft "Roland?"

Regina looked for Robin's glance, a silent understanding passing between the two of them. He wanted to hand the baby over to her, but Regina shook her head. She slipped out of her slippers and stepped toward the ladder.

"Roland, sweetie, is it okay if I come up?" He didn't answer, instead buried his face in the monkey's fur.

She bit her lip and climbed up the ladder to the lowest branch, now almost on the same height as Roland. "Roland, will you look at me? Please?"

The little boy didn't move an inch, which made Regina's heart only break more. She couldn't really remember the last time she'd climbed a tree but three more moves and she could lift herself onto the same branch Roland was sitting on. She hooked her feet under a lower branch so she could keep the balance, her hand not resting far away from Roland's leg.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Roland. I didn't mean to do that, you know? I just got scared." She heard a muffled sound being spoken into the plush monkey but couldn't make out what he'd said. "Roland, I can't understand what you're saying."

"I just wanted to help her sleep," came his voice, now clearer. He was still not looking at her.

"That's why you put the hippo and the dragon into the bassinet?" He nodded.

"I didn't wake her, Gina. She woke all by herself but I thought she would go back to sleep with one of the toys. I can only sleep when I have my monkey, I thought…"

"That was very thoughtful of you, Roland. And we are not mad at you," Robin reassured him from below. His head was almost on the same height as Roland's feet.

"I gave Peanut the hippo and asked if I could play with the dragon from the Dragon Lady but then she started crying and I thought she didn't want me to play with her dragon, so I gave her that one, too," he explained with a shaking voice.

"That was very nice of you, Roland. But you know how daddy and I always try to explain that your sister is too small to play with you yet? Well, she is too small to play with the plush toys, too. You see, she can't really move herself yet or roll over."

"She lies around a lot. And she cries a lot." Roland agreed, making Regina smile. He was finally looking at her, his eyes puffy and red from crying.

"Yeah, she does that," Robin agreed. To Regina's surprise he'd climbed up to the lowest branch with the baby in his arms who was once again wide awake now but not crying. She shot him a look, wondering if it was really so clever to climb trees with a baby but he just winked at her. At least this way he was almost the same height as Roland.

"Look, Roland, the toys you put into her bassinet are a lot bigger than her and even though they seem light for you, they are very heavy for her tiny size. So imagine, when she's sleeping in the bassinet and the toy falls over onto her, she can't move it away." She could choke, Regina reminded herself, but she didn't want to scare Roland and making him think he could have killed his baby sister. "So we have to wait until she's a lot older to play with toys. But I'm sure she'd like you to teach her once she's old enough."

"And you know what?" Robin asked smiling, "I'm sure up until she's ready to play with the dragon toy I'm sure she wouldn't mind you playing with it for her."

"That's a wonderful idea, right sweetie?" Regina tipped the baby's nose with her index making her let out a cheerful sound.

Roland was smiling now. "Can I, Peanut?"

Regina and Robin smiled at the nickname he'd given his little sister. "We think Peanut is all right with it," his papa laughed.

"Okay then Peanut," Regina grinned, "how about you and daddy go upstairs to get Mal's dragon and Roland will show mommy how to climb down here?"

Robin let out a laugh before he easily made his way down to the ground, making the baby bounce a little in his arms. "You like climbing, do you sweetie?"

"Don't get any ideas!" Regina yelled down from the tree before she looked back at Roland whose expression had become saddened once again. "Roland…? What's wrong? Please talk to me. You can tell me anything, you know?" She put her hand onto his small thigh, rubbing up and down the jeans fabric while he was hugging his monkey more fiercely. "This… is this still because I yelled at you?"

He shook his head, her confusion growing by the second. "Do you not want to play with the dragon after all?"

"I do."

"Then what…? Is it because of your sister?"

The nod she received made her heart clench. She scooted closer to him. "We know your sister came very fast and unexpected, Roland. She was a big surprise for every one of us and… and your daddy and I are very sorry that she takes up a lot of our time at the moment but we hope you still know we love you very, very much."

"You're her mommy."

Regina raised an eyebrow. After the trip to Hell and banning Zelena there forever, she and Robin had agreed on raising the baby together as a family. Not that this had ever been the question. The tiny baby was the unexpected but innocent outcome of a cruel revenge plot and the fact Zelena was her mother was in no way her fault. So yes, she wanted to become a mother to their little princess who wasn't her blood but had captured her heart nonetheless. A mother like she became to Henry and Roland and…"

"Yes, I am her mommy because Zelena couldn't be her mommy. Like I became Henry's mommy when Emma couldn't be her mommy."

"So everyone has a mommy," Roland whispered and she smiled nodding. "Everyone but me."

Her face cleared with shock and complete disbelief at the words of the five-year-old. "Roland…" Oh God. Of course. Of course this was what all this was about. "Roland what do you think mommies do?"

He looked up for a moment, surprised at her question. His fingers were playing with the monkey's ear when he answered. "They make you pancakes for breakfast and they let you help with apple turnovers. And when you have a bad dream they come and tell you everything will be okay and sometimes carry you over to daddy's bedroom so you can sleep in the middle. They play with you when they have time and they lace your shoes. And they make you laugh like daddy does. Sometimes they are mad at you when you run upstairs with the dirty shoes and ruin the carpet but that's all okay when you apologize. Oh, there is so much more! Mommies read you bedtime stories and they tell you they love you. Every single day… just like you."

Her eyes were wet with tears and her hands shaking when she pulled Roland to her chest, hugging him so tight she had to be careful to not squeeze the air out of him.

"Roland… Roland Would you like me to be your mommy, too?"

"Just like Peanut's?" he piped up.

"Just like Peanut's," she agreed. "And Henry's."

"So I can call you Mommy?"

"Of course, my little knight."

"And we'll do all the things mommies and sons do together?"

"Everything and more."

"And I can play with Peanut's dragon until she's old enough?"

"Yes, Roland."

"Can Henry and I get a dog?"

"Nice try," Regina grinned before kissing the tip of his nose. "Come on. How about we see what Henry, Daddy and Peanut are doing and make a big family pizza tonight."

"Okay."

They climbed down the stairs and made their way over to the house with joined hands. When Regina announced it was time to go to bed that night, Roland was tugged into bed with his new favorite plush dragon called Spuck and Mr. McMonkey-McBean.

"Good night my little knight. I love you," Regina whispered before switching off the light, not able to hide her smile when she heard Roland whisper back.

"Goodnight, Mommy."

She made her way over to the nursery where little Peanut - for some strange reason they had all found a new liking for Roland's nickname - was sleeping soundly. She leaned over the bassinet, caressing the baby's cheek with her index.

"You're lucky, you know that my little baby peanut? You have a wonderful daddy, who would go through fire for you. You have two brothers who will protect you from everything… and I promise you will forever be loved by this family, no matter what." She heard her baby sigh contently in her sleep and decided it was time to go to bed as well.

"Good night, my little Peanut… Mommy… Mommy loves you."

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A/N: So perhaps some of you noticed I didn't name the baby. This is because I'd rather like to wait until the show gives us the real name and I hope that didn't ruin the story for you. I'd love to know what you think either here or on twitter via glindaloveshoes :) Thanks so much for reading!


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